Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G dates accidentally leaked by Google
The Pixel 4 is now but a memory, having formally and officially vanished from Google's store. And that's barely a year after it launched and without a new high-end flagship to take its place. Of course, the Pixel 5 is coming, no doubt about that, but the question has always been when. It seems that there will at least be a two-month gap when Google won't formally have a premium Pixel phone if its own accidental revelation of the Pixel 5 pre-order date is to be considered.
It's not unusual for companies to phase out products as new ones come in and smaller companies often don't keep generations of products in stock for long. Google, in particular, is known for retiring year-old phones just as new ones come in but the Pixel 4's case is rather unusual. Google has officially pulled the plug, as far as production and its own stocks are concerned, even before its successor becomes available.
Some might see that as a sign that the Pixel 5 is indeed just around the corner, but new information might be disappointing to say the last. Google's French blog made a post about the Pixel 4 but also accidentally included a line about the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5's pre-order dates. That blog post has been edited but, as you can expect, the Internet never forgets.
The Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G will go on pre-order in France on October 8, a good two months away. And that's just for France, so there's no telling when the actual announcement will be, let alone the date the two phones will actually become available to the rest of the markets that Google serves.
On the one hand, it's understandable that Google's schedule was hit hard by the unexpected and drastic changes in how the world worked. On the other hand, it seems to be the only one among its peers that had its schedule messed up by this much. Then again, Google isn't really a big smartphone maker in comparison, and the way it has handled the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 development is perhaps the biggest proof of that.